We have used the two-dimensional Ising model with a limited number of rows, but with the coordination number of four for each site, to set up the transfer matrix for the model. From the solution of such a matrix, the exact thermodynamic properties have been obtained for the model with a definite number of rows, n . We have solved the matrix for n ≤ 7 and n ≤ 10 in the presence and absence of a magnetic field, respectively. On the basis of such solutions, we have proposed an analytical expression for the partition function of the model with any number of rows in the absence of a magnetic field. The proposed expression becomes more accurate when n is larger, in such a way that it becomes very accurate for n ≥ 8 and is exact for n → ∞. Our results show that the singularity of the specific heat occurs only for the model with infinite number of rows. In the presence of a magnetic field, the solution to the matrixes is too complicated to propose a general analytical expression for the partition function of the model with any number of rows. However, our exact solution for the model with n = 4, 5, 6, and 7 reveals an important point that such results are independent of n when the field−spin interaction energy is almost equal to or larger than that of the spin−spin interaction.
We study the free energy of the classical square-lattice Ising model in a uniform real magnetic field
h, for which no exact solution is known. We first conjecture a closed-form expression built from the one-dimensional Ising chain and Onsager's hypergeometric solution. Comparing with high-precision tensor renormalization group (TRG) data, we find that it deviates by up to
2.6%, has no spontaneous magnetization, and gives an effective critical-isotherm exponent
δ→1. However, using the Lee--Yang circle theorem, we show that the exact free energy is a superposition of one-dimensional Ising chains in the same field, weighted by a temperature-dependent (normalized, but not always positive) distribution of squared Lee--Yang gaps, of which our first expression is a single-chain approximation. Exact results (Onsager, Yang, the strong-field expansion and the Lee--Yang solution at
βh=iπ/2) become sum rules for this distribution. We propose a simple form for it, fixed by Onsager's free energy and the exact strong-field limit without any fit to numerical data. This \emph{improved} conjecture agrees with TRG to
0.15% for all
β and
h, reproduces Yang's spontaneous magnetization exactly, has a positive specific heat, and yields the critical isotherm
M∝h1/δ with
δ=15.2 and amplitude
1.055, compared with the exact
δ=15 and
1.059. A refined form, which builds in additional input from Ising field theory (including the exact critical isotherm,
δ=15) and a few constants adjusted to transfer-matrix and TRG data, matches the TRG free energy to
4×10−5.
Analytic results for the free energy, magnetic structure factor, and Edwards-Anderson order parameter of a one-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model in a random magnetic field are obtained. The structure factor consists of both Lorentzian and Lorentzian-squared terms at all temperatures (
T) greater than zero; the Lorentzian-squared terms vanish at
T=0. The calculated correlation length agrees with predictions of the Imry-Ma domain argument.
The analytic properties of the Onsager solution of the two-dimensional Ising lattice in zero external magnetic field are investigated. The free energy above the critical temperature
Tc can be regarded as an analytic function in the
u plane, where $u=\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{4J}{{k}_{B}T})$, with singularities at $u=0, \ensuremath{\infty}, \mathrm{and} \mathrm{exp}(\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{4J}{{k}_{B}{T}_{c}})$. But its analytic continuation below the critical temperature does not describe a stable thermodynamic phase. Similar statements are true for the free energy below the critical temperature. The famous logarithmic singularity is briefly discussed. Finally, the knowledge of the analytic properties is shown, by elementary considerations, to explain the nonanalytic behavior at vanishing external field below the critical temperature---a result first enunciated by Yang and Lee for the free energy in the presence of an external magnetic field.